“Fake news” designed to harm Qatar’s relations with the U.S. is from UAE

July 21, 2017 | Published by: Moh

“Fake news” designed to harm Qatar’s relations with the U.S. played a major role in the diplomatic split between the tiny Gulf nation and its neighbors, say both U.S. officials and the Qatari government.

In a statement to NBC News, the Qatari government said it had been victimized by a “well-coordinated smear campaign designed to damage the image and reputation of Qatar. And the smear campaign, in turn, set the stage for the blockade and the ultimatum that followed in June.”

At the center of the dispute between Qatar and other Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are reports that that the Qatari emir had praised Hamas and called Iran “an Islamic power,” and that Qatar had paid nearly a billion dollars in ransom to al Qaeda for the release of a Qatari hunting party.

Both stories are false and apparently planted, say senior U.S. officials.

In the most recent case, a U.S. intelligence official said that the quotes attributed to Qatar’s ruler were phony and part of a campaign to hurt Qatar. Several officials confirmed the report in the Washington Post that someone working for the United Arab Emirates government hacked into Qatari news sites and social media on May 24 to plant the false comments attributed to Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad al-Thani.

The intelligence official said the operatives who carried out the hack may have been private contractors, but U.S. authorities sees the UAE as ultimately responsible……………. more NBC news .